21 Surprising Facts About Cinco de Mayo

Each year, millions of Americans celebrate Cinco de Mayo by drinking and eating Mexican food ‘ but what do we really know about the holiday? Here are 21 surprising facts to keep in mind when celebrating this year:

• It’s actually on March 17th.
• “Beans, beans” were not the original musical fruit; that honor goes to traditional Latin gourd instruments like the g ‘iro.
• The phrase “Cinco de Mayo” is a palindrome if you have enough tequila.
• All sour cream expires on May 6th so you have to use it up.
• Cinco de Mayo honors a tribe of ancient Mayans who miraculously refried the same beans for five straight nights.
• A 2010 study by the RAND Corporation confirms that the holiday is, in fact, more like drinko de Mayo.
• Every time you eat a jalape ‘o popper on Cinco De Mayo an angel gets its wings.
• Cinco de Mayo commemorates the first five-member Mariachi band to fit in a single New York City subway car.
• Spiciness notwithstanding, Julianna Margulies is Jewish.
• Every Cinco de Mayo, Governor Jan Brewer is legally required to open the padlock fence between Arizona and Mexico and no passports are needed.
• The “Cinco de Mayo” name originally belonged to a short-lived variety of Hellmann’s mayonnaise infused with five different Latin spices.
• Rearrange “Cinco De Mayo” and what do you get? “Acid Economy.” Think about it.
• Cinco De Mayo is not a quincea ‘era.
• A pi ‘ata cannot be filled with liquid.
• All sombreros make excellent dip & guac serving trays, even if someone's wearing them.
• There is no such thing as an “all-brero.”
• On Cinco de Mayo, if you tweet at Gael Garcia Bernal asking for a favor, he has to do it.
• If you show up drunk to work today, you can still be fired ‘ even if you went to Spring Break in Cancun during sophomore year and you're “basically Mexican anyway.”
• Cinco de Mayo was not created by a young Mario Lopez during a hiatus from Saved by the Bell.
• Cinco De Mayo does not make it OK for white people to wear sombreros.
• Guac is still extra on Cinco de Mayo. Guac is, has been, and will always be extra.